NY Taconic plant begins PFOA contamination study

“PETERSBURGH — Taconic plastics plant is beginning an in-depth investigation into the extent of PFOA contamination around its Route 22 plant — more than two years after the company first alerted the state to renewed concerns about contamination around its property.

The company, whose official name is Tonoga Inc., will begin doing soil borings and installing groundwater wells to determine the true extent of contamination of PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical used to make heat-resistant coatings.

In Jan. 2016, Taconic reached out to the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Health Department about previous PFOA contamination at its manufacturing facility in the wake of revelations about the nearby Village of Hoosick Falls public water supply being contaminated with PFOA since at least 2014.

The contamination that came from the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant in Hoosick Falls, and subsequently the Taconic plant, lead to a massive outcry about how PFOA might impact residents’ health in the years to come.

Taconic responded by signing a consent order with the state in November 2016 that required a filtration system be placed on Petersburgh’s small municipal water plant, as well as testing and filtration systems installed for private wells in the area.

But as part of the consent order, Taconic was also required to investigate how much of the surrounding environs are contaminated, and if there is a way to clean it up beyond just providing water filtration systems to residents.

The state DEC announced last week that the investigation’s findings will be released in a report sometime in 2019, followed by a study suggesting ways to clean up the contamination. However, ‘the information collected during the site investigation may also support the conclusion that no action, or no further action, is needed to address site-related contamination,’ according to the DEC’s investigation update released last week.

Taconic had found PFOA contamination at its plant more than a decade ago. But the state said at the time PFOA was not a regulated contaminant. In 2005, the company installed a carbon-filter system on its plant wells along the Little Hoosic River after it said low levels of the chemical were discovered. Alternative water treatment systems were also installed for nearby residents…

A class-action lawsuit has been filed by property owners and water users in Petersburgh against Taconic.”